title: Effects of total sleep deprivation on urinary cortisol, self-rated arousal, and mood in depressed patients.
abstract: The possibility that the clinical response to total sleep deprivation (TSD) is mediated by dimensions of arousal was investigated in a group of 16 depressed patients. Self-reports of activation, stress, and mood were assessed 3 days before, during, and 2 days after TSD. Urinary cortisol excretion and responses to the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) were also measured. TSD increased cortisol excretion in depressed patients and advanced the time of the maximal excretion of cortisol. No such changes have been reported for normal subjects. Neither the increased excretion nor the time shift was related to the mood response to TSD. The DST results were also unrelated to this response. Indications that the mood response to TSD may be mediated by dimensions of arousal are the significant relationships between this response and the responses of subjective stress and activation to TSD. The TSD-induced cortisol increase was not related to the subjective arousal response to TSD. The increased cortisol excretion itself could be predicted by the averaged baseline levels of subjective stress: the lower the stress levels before TSD, the larger the cortisol response to TSD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychiatry, Academic Hospital, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bouhuys
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Flentge
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Van den Hoofdakker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000652:urine; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000652:urine; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone